Home Photo Printing vs Store Photo Prints

Has anybody done cost analysis for thier home photosmart printer,
considering the cost of inkjet ink and photo paper ?

I have a HP7350 and a HP4L. Right now, the HP4L needs toner cart. My
needs are more text printing than photo printing. With 4x6 photo
prints of my digicam snapshots going for 17 cents (US), I am wondering
if I should give up on the photosmart printer.

"Vince" wrote in message
...

Has anybody done cost analysis for thier home photosmart printer,
considering the cost of inkjet ink and photo paper ?

I have a HP7350 and a HP4L. Right now, the HP4L needs toner cart. My
needs are more text printing than photo printing. With 4x6 photo
prints of my digicam snapshots going for 17 cents (US), I am wondering
if I should give up on the photosmart printer.


If all you need are 4x6, it certainly makes economic sense to use the store.
Jim

"Jim" wrote in message
. ..

If all you need are 4x6, it certainly makes economic sense to use the
store.
Jim

How far away is your store and how much gas does the car use?

On line photo services are quite cheap for 4x6's. Ofoto has run some great
specials. I prefer, however, to print from Photoshop Elements so I can
correct and improve my prints even when I am printing 4x6's. Using
aftermarket inks (bulk refilling with MIS ink for my Canon i960) and
precutting Costco Kirkland photo glossy paper into 4x6's, my cost per print
is less than any photo service. The paper cost - 125 sheets @ $19 - is
about five cents per 4 x 6 and the ink cost is a few pennies. Best of all,
I can shoot pictures and have beautiful custom prints in minutes. I haven't
calculated the cost of ink for an 8x10, but I'd guess that paper and ink all
together are less than 30 cents.

"CWatters" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
. ..

If all you need are 4x6, it certainly makes economic sense to use the
store.
Jim

How far away is your store and how much gas does the car use?

Burt wrote:

On line photo services are quite cheap for 4x6's. Ofoto has run some great
specials. I prefer, however, to print from Photoshop Elements so I can
correct and improve my prints even when I am printing 4x6's. Using
aftermarket inks


BIG RISK FOR CLOGGING. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT INK YOU ARE USING BECAUSE
THE PLACE WHERE YOU BUY THAT LABEL WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT THEY ARE
SELLING YOU

(bulk refilling with MIS ink for my Canon i960) and
precutting Costco Kirkland photo glossy paper into 4x6's, my cost per print
is less than any photo service. The paper cost - 125 sheets @ $19 - is
about five cents per 4 x 6 and the

POTENTIALLY CLOGGING

ink cost is a few pennies. Best of all,
I can shoot pictures and have beautiful custom prints in minutes. I haven't
calculated the cost of ink for an 8x10, but I'd guess that paper and ink all
together are less than 30 cents.

"CWatters" wrote in message
...


"Jim" wrote in message
m...


If all you need are 4x6, it certainly makes economic sense to use the


store.


Jim


How far away is your store and how much gas does the car use?

"Vince" wrote in message
...

Has anybody done cost analysis for their home photosmart printer,
considering the cost of inkjet ink and photo paper ?

I have a HP7350 and a HP4L. Right now, the HP4L needs toner cart. My
needs are more text printing than photo printing. With 4x6 photo
prints of my digicam snapshots going for 17 cents (US), I am wondering
if I should give up on the photosmart printer.

If you decide to print your own you might want to take a look at some of the
"Photo Value Pack" bundles. See
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...mbos&aoid=9870.
For your printer there are photo value packs that have print costs of $0.29.
Depending on the quantity you print and the shipping charges you may find this
a good option.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP

If your only criterion is cost, it will be cheaper to get your
prints done outside. Most of us use our own printers for
convenience and flexibility, not economy.

Vince wrote:
Has anybody done cost analysis for thier home photosmart printer,
considering the cost of inkjet ink and photo paper ?

I have a HP7350 and a HP4L. Right now, the HP4L needs toner cart. My
needs are more text printing than photo printing. With 4x6 photo
prints of my digicam snapshots going for 17 cents (US), I am wondering
if I should give up on the photosmart printer.

Burt wrote:
On line photo services are quite cheap for 4x6's. Ofoto has run some
great specials. I prefer, however, to print from Photoshop Elements
so I can correct and improve my prints even when I am printing 4x6's.
Using aftermarket inks (bulk refilling with MIS ink for my Canon
i960) and precutting Costco Kirkland photo glossy paper into 4x6's,
my cost per print is less than any photo service. The paper cost -
125 sheets @ $19 - is about five cents per 4 x 6 and the ink cost is
a few pennies. Best of all, I can shoot pictures and have beautiful
custom prints in minutes. I haven't calculated the cost of ink for
an 8x10, but I'd guess that paper and ink all together are less than
30 cents.
Hm...i could hardly agree with you. No matter what cheap ink you use, the
cost of paper itself is more expensive than one lab photo. And if you buy
some cheap paper, then you can't really compare your photo with a lab one.
If you want to make really good photo, you must buy the most expensive paper
available and use original ink, or you will suffer from low quality and
quick fading.
Home printing is not to be cheaper, but rather for fun, or when you need a
couple of photos quickly etc. There is no calculation here....

"SleeperMan" wrote in message
...
Burt wrote:
On line photo services are quite cheap for 4x6's. Ofoto has run some
great specials. I prefer, however, to print from Photoshop Elements
so I can correct and improve my prints even when I am printing 4x6's.
Using aftermarket inks (bulk refilling with MIS ink for my Canon
i960) and precutting Costco Kirkland photo glossy paper into 4x6's,
my cost per print is less than any photo service. The paper cost -
125 sheets @ $19 - is about five cents per 4 x 6 and the ink cost is
a few pennies. Best of all, I can shoot pictures and have beautiful
custom prints in minutes. I haven't calculated the cost of ink for
an 8x10, but I'd guess that paper and ink all together are less than
30 cents.
Hm...i could hardly agree with you. No matter what cheap ink you use, the
cost of paper itself is more expensive than one lab photo. And if you buy
some cheap paper, then you can't really compare your photo with a lab one.
If you want to make really good photo, you must buy the most expensive
paper available and use original ink, or you will suffer from low quality
and quick fading.
Home printing is not to be cheaper, but rather for fun, or when you need a
couple of photos quickly etc. There is no calculation here....

Sleeperman - In my area (San Francisco) and in most urban areas of the US
there is a Costco store that carries Kirkland Glossy Photo paper. It is
reputed to be made by Ilford and gives excellent results with Canon
printers. As I mentioned in my post, the cost per 8x10 sheet is 15 cents
and it yields 3 4x6's for a cost of 5 cents. I am in communication with
several people, some of whom post to this newsgroup, who use MIS inks (that
is the one I use), Formulabs, or Hobbicolors inks. One of the people who is
using Formulabs has developed custom profiles to increase the accuracy of
the colors and uses an expensive, very precise colorimeter to analyze the
ink/paper combination. To the eye, MIS inks and OEM inks prints almost
identically and side-by-side evaluation of the Kirkland paper vs. Canon
photo paper pro and Epson glossy photo paper, both good papers, show
virtually comparable results. I've done a very large sampling of OEM and
MIS prints on all these papers plus a range of matte surface papers and
compared them in various lighting situations.

Bottom line - I can do an excellent custom adjusted 4x6 print for 5 cents
worth of paper and a few cents for the bulk MIS refill ink. Is it as good
as a lab print? I don't know. I think it is as good as most inkjet
printers can deliver. Some lab prints are better than others as well. The
best lab prints, in my estimation are still from high quality film camera -
the larger the format, the best lighting and exposure, and the lowest ISO
film the better. My digital cameras are only 4 and 5 mp, but they both
provide very good prints up to the largest size my printer will deliver
which is 8.5x11. Under 8x magnification with a jewelers loupe, however, the
best looking digital prints still show the "dots" of ink that make up a
picture that can look great to the naked eye.

After trips I print as many as 600 images, most in 4x6 format, as that is
what my wife prefers. Most of the images are improved first, whether it is
simply cropping or a more complex series of adjustments. While I do this
for fun and esthetic satisfaction, I also enjoy that I have worked out a
way to do it economically without sacrificing quality.

If cost is your main factor, for smaller 4 x 6" snaps, the home printers
do not compete, especially if you need to buy the printer, and consider
time at the computer etc. Larger sized prints become more competitive,
and customizing becomes more of an issue also.

Art

Vince wrote:

Has anybody done cost analysis for thier home photosmart printer,
considering the cost of inkjet ink and photo paper ?

I have a HP7350 and a HP4L. Right now, the HP4L needs toner cart. My
needs are more text printing than photo printing. With 4x6 photo
prints of my digicam snapshots going for 17 cents (US), I am wondering
if I should give up on the photosmart printer.